My Night Out at Cirque Du Soleil

Husband and I are HUGE Cirque fans. Varekai is our 12th Cirque show to see together. We love love LOVE the shows, but I do have to admit that after seeing 12 of them, the acts do start to feel a little repetitive and “been there, seen that”. That’s not to say that Varekai isn’t good or worth seeing, but it definitely doesn’t top our list of most impressive shows.

Varekai translates to “whatever/wherever”. The show begins with the Greek myth of Icarus and starts were the myth ends. After Icarus flies too close to the sun and falls from the sky, he lands in the imaginary exotic forest of Varekai, full of wild and crazy creatures. I’ve got to say, had I not known this beforehand, I NEVER would have picked up on it. In fact, it was hard to follow even knowing the story. Although, who ever really follows cirque stories? We just want to see really strong people do crazy stuff and flip around.

Luckily, there was lots of strong people doing what appears to be impossible. One of the most impressive acts was when Icarus dropped to stage in a net and then performed a silk-type performance using the net. It was beautiful and impressive and unique…3 things I always want to see in a Cirque Du Soleil show.

My favorite act is always the gymnasts. The gymnasts in Varekai had 2 big acts (yay!). One was a floor routine, which sounds basic, but was so fast and stunning. and that I didn’t want to blink and miss a trick. However, the last act (The Russian Swings, which I very poorly described yesterday), was insane! It was jaw-dropping good.

Sadly, not all the acts were as impressive. Don’t get me wrong, they were all very well done. The performers are impeccable. They are clearly among the strongest, most-talented and dedicated performers. However, some of their acts have just been done too many times. Others were just boring or annoying. One character in particular, the Skywatcher, was painfully bothersome. The noises he made, the fart jokes, the “kick-in-the-crotch” humor he constantly brought to the stage not only took away from the story, the beautiful set and the amazing acts, but drove me nuts. Thank God, the clowns were actually funny and interactive with the audience.

This guy…. STOP IT.

I may sound harsh, but I want to be honest. I want you to know what to expect if you get a ticket to Varekai. If you’ve never been to a Cirque show, you’ll love it. You will be in awe as you leave the theater. If you have seen a few Cirque shows, then feel free to skip Varekai, you won’t miss much. Also, you’re welcome.